brand thinking blog

On Technology

  • A New Generation of Technological Interaction

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    Posted on April 7, 2011 at 11:19 am

    There’s a good chance that you’ve come across an already widely adopted “next-gen” technology, whether it’s a touch screen, artificial intelligence or motion tracking. While the majority of these new technologies are still being used for entertainment purposes, more and more researchers and hobbyists are finding uses for them in our everyday lives. What once was just a novelty is now becoming the norm, making it all the more important to adapt our work process and evolve our thinking about how we design a user experience.

    With each new iteration of software, the programs we use become faster, more capable and even more aware of the tasks we’re trying to accomplish, all of which translates into more time available to devise better concepts and strategies. As input technology improves, more of our work will move from traditional desktops to digital drafting tables and tablets, essentially bringing our industry back to it’s origins. It’s a fascinating prospect to say the least, and it will be interesting to see how quickly the transition is made.

    The biggest advantage of all of this new technology will be the interactive and immersive component. Things that are already implemented on touch screen devices like swipe and pinch to zoom, give the end user a more immediate sense compatibility. With other input devices that involve motion tracking, the ability to interact in a digital world in the same manner you do with the real world, will create an even greater sense of immersion. Then it’s only a matter of time before that too is improved upon. As this technology becomes standardized and commonplace, you’ll start to see it used in all aspects of life, and that’s something to both look forward to and prepare for.

    With this next generation of technology standing at your firm’s doorstep, you don’t need to rise to the challenge alone. We have the skill-set and tools to stand with your firm as you open the door.

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  • Is Your Inbox Full of Bacon?

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    Posted on March 28, 2011 at 2:12 pm

    Each morning, I wake up and within minutes check my email. Any breaking news occur while I was asleep? What’s today’s deal from GroupOn? I subscribe to 20 dailies and yet I only read about 3 to 4 of them, simply deleting the rest. The emails which I have subscribed to are what is known as bacon (the legitimate cousin of unwanted spam). It’s not a problem for me to receive bacon, I asked for it! But it is a problem for the companies who are sending the bacon emails. There’s too many of them now that unless the sender or subject attracts me in a few seconds, their efforts are lost and I never read their email.

    A recent study reported the amount of bacon emails we receive has far surpassed the number of wanted emails. Perhaps this is because the cost to send one email is $0.0001, far less expensive than standard snail mail. In 2010 there were 27,397,260,274 bacon emails sent per day, which amounts to 7,300 emails sent annually to each person on the planet with an active email address. Of the bacon emails sent each day, 61% are deleted without even being read. That’s a lot of time wasted creating emails that the majority of your subscribers don’t even read. This infographic says it best, “Some bacon is good, too much will clog your arteries.”

    So what does this mean for your firm? It means you should follow a few best practices to prevent your emails from being overlooked:

    1. Start with a solid offer or idea. It has to be something your readers are interested in or it’s pointless. It can’t just be news–it has to be news they can use. This should resonate in the subject line as well as the rest of the email.
    2. Test the frequency and relevance. Every email vendor offers reporting metrics–pay attention to each campaign’s open rate, week-part (that is, which days of the week enjoy the highest open rates), day-part (which times of day have the highest open rates), and viewing platform (this will give you the most common email programs your audience uses (e.g. Outlook, Gmail) AND how many of your emails are opened via mobile) email applications. Adjust accordingly.
    3. The “from” and “subject” lines count the most. Studies show 70% of people base their decision to open an email on the “from” line and the other 30% decide based on the “subject” line. Rather than making the “subject” line the last thing you write, start with this. Setting your “from” language is something you likely did when you first hired your email vendor. Go back and revisit that now to make sure it’s accurate. Remember: when viewing email via a mobile device, there is even LESS space for both the “subject” and “from” lines.

    In a digital world, cutting through the clutter can be hard. Make the time to take the extra steps to ensure your next email doesn’t fall into the bacon trap.

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  • Stick Out Like a Sore Thumb…

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    Posted on March 22, 2011 at 1:03 pm

    …or a porcupine in a pillow factory. Your pick. The point is, when it comes to presentation tools, Powerpoint seems to do more harm than good when it comes to memories and positive vibes.

    We all know you need to stand out.

    We all know you need to not overwhelm with slide bloat.

    We all know punchy visuals creates a better message than storied text. But there’s always more we can do:

    Seek inspiration
    Between YouTube, SlideShare, TED and a host of other avenues, inspiration is not far and always accessible. I also go to sites like PresentationZen for tips, tricks and theories.

    Don’t go where everyone else has gone
    Avoid the built-in templates. I’m sure most of them have already been used by lots of other people, and once something seems familiar, you’re going to lose your audience to visual fatigue, or worse, familiarity. If you’re feeling spry, try using a whole other application to create your presentation. There’s Keynote, if you’re using a Mac, or even video editing tools if you dare! As much as you can do off the beaten path is what will make you and your presentation stand out, and thus be more memorable.

    Don’t just create, but design
    Hire someone (us!) who can help design a solid, memorable template that will be a stage worthy of your presentation. Even something as basic as master slides and their proper application can help get some visual consistency and proper branding on your slides. Also, keep some conventions in mind to help “train” the audience on what to expect, like standardized fonts, accurate alignment or consistent image sizes (I’m a huge fan or whole-slide images, myself!).

    Slides support the presentation, not the other way around
    Whatever your visual aids are, your presence and your words, are what everyone’s probably actually there for. Sure, use Powerpoint, but don’t feel you have to. Sometimes, it’s a powerful image to just stand there, mike in hand, with only you, what you say and your audience.

    Hold your work up for judgment, and learn from feedback
    Post your presentation to SlideShare, or YouTube and leave comments open. Sure you’re going to get some trolling (it *is* the Internet, after all), but if you ask for honest feedback, folks will respond and help you, so you can be a better presenter with more effective slides.

    Sometimes the takeaway is a take away
    It is customary to insert your contact information in your slides, or at the end of the show, but rather than encouraging everyone to write down the information (and possibly introducing costly errors) ask them to take a pic of the contact slide with their phones or cameras. Or if you’d like to be leading edge, create a QR Code pointing to a minisite for your presentation or topic where folks can follow-up, interact or even download a copy of your presentation.

    The point of a presentation is still communication–whether it’s an idea, information or your master plan to start a “Waffle On A Stick” truck–and the tools you use, are just that, tools. They could help with the communication, but sometimes, they get in the way. In the end, if you take everything else away, your presentation should still be able to stand on its own.

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  • Breathing New Life Into Print Advertising

    By and

    Posted on March 3, 2011 at 11:38 am

    You may have noticed odd-looking square icons on print materials, such as advertising in magazines, brochures or theater programs. By either downloading an application on your mobile smart phone or simply taking a photo and sending it via SMS, you can scan these icons in order to further interact with a subject, brand, product or institution.

    With Quick Response (QR) codes, traditional sales and communications pieces can become an extension of the brand’s personality by allowing consumers to interact. For example, a program from The Kennedy Center recently included a sheet with a QR code that linked visitors to a customer satisfaction survey. Flip through a magazine and you will see print ads with QR codes that lead customers straight to a transaction with specialized information and even coupons or deals.

    QR codes enables ROI measurement for print campaigns by tracking relevant user analytics such as how many people interacted with the print ad, how much time they spent interacting with the content and even where they saw the ad. These metrics provide you invaluable data about your brand’s engagement with your target audience.

    Furthermore, the experience you offer users who opt to use a QR code gives you the opportunity to communicate your brand’s personality in a meaningful way. The landing pages you design, the content you offer, and the nature of the interaction are all levers that marketers get to manipulate to bring the brand to life off the page.

    In terms of professional service firms, the opportunities are endless: put a QR code on the front of an annual report which then links to a managing partner discussing the year’s highlights. In service brochures, a QR code can link back to the specific service area on the firm’s website and offer an interactive case study.

    Finally, print advertising can be quantified just like banner ads.

    For some of our clients, this is the logical next step in the digital branding world. But for others, it will take experimenting and an investment in education.

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  • New Content Management System Transforms User Experience

    By , and

    Posted on February 23, 2011 at 11:20 am

    Version 6 of Point & Clique is an entirely new content management engine that puts marketers in firm control of their website with a transformed user experience powered by intuition. Based on over ten years of experience with earlier systems and 30 years of experience branding services, we have redesigned the philosophy, structure and interface to reduce friction, frustration and suffering usually associated with CMSs. Users applaud the comfortable handling and remarkably friendly dashboard. Developers will appreciate the elegantly themed structure. Take it for a test drive and you’ll agree.

    Creating content is hard, but publishing it is now easier and more intuitive.

    1. Enter content with a best-in-class interface. No matter how you cut it, entering content in a website is tedious work. But going through multiple steps with multiple clicks makes tedious work a nightmare. Point & Clique v6’s intuitive interface is easily learned and even easier to use.
    2. Relate content with less work, more flow. Prove your expert credentials with easy-to-relate articles, speeches, awards, case studies. etc. Make the organization shine and drive the reader deeper into your site with related content.
    3. Manage content across all media. Content is no longer defined as words. Now your content includes media in multiple forms—photography, illustration, videos, PDFs and other document types. V6 manages them all smoothly, allowing you to grow your media library in a central location.
    4. Preview content. Yes, you did that right! What could be worse than to enter and relate content for a dozen pages only to find out that you’ve done it incorrectly? V6 allows you to preview your work as you go along. There’s less chance of a mistake from the outset.
    5. Optimize content with friendly URLs, metatags and keywords. Optimizing your website is another chore made simpler with v6 SEO tools builts right into the content management system. Yes, you want your brilliant site design to be noticed, but you’ll never be noticed unless you get found.
    6. Master content today and tomorrow. As you grow, v6 grows with you, allowing you to easily add pages that match existing templates throughout the site. Also, with its intuitive interface, drop-down menus, robust help pages and a growing library of video tutorials that cover every task, new hires can get up to speed quickly. Training and retraining are in your rear view mirror. Even your content  entry errors are called out with instructions on how to fix problems on the fly.

    To find out more about Greenfield/Belser’s Point & Clique, visit www.pointandclique.com or contact us to set up a demo for you!

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  • Bring Print to Life

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    Posted on February 15, 2011 at 9:34 am

    Want a thrill? Go to www.gbltd.com and click on our 2010 Annual Review. You can (1) turn the pages, (2) zoom in on text, (3) see websites come alive just like Harry Potter’s Daily Prophet or (4) link directly to websites  and, finally, (5) use a magnifying glass to get in closer to the page.

    Use this tool to bring your own print materials to life. Or consider animating online information like charts, graphs, process diagrams or maps. The wow factor may be reason enough to animate your material but we believe that making your material interactive increases visitor “stickiness,” improves learning and creates a memorable impression. Ordinary is not enough anymore as the Internet approaches television in the quality of user experience.

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